


Barking Up the Wrong Tree

by Geonn



Series: Underdogs [24]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Case Fic, Detective Noir, F/F, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Romance, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-19
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2018-01-02 00:55:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1050602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geonn/pseuds/Geonn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ari takes a case from someone in her past and thinks about her current situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Barking Up the Wrong Tree

**Author's Note:**

> This story is pre-first novel, which means it's Ari and Dale as coworkers rather than a couple. It was very unusual to write. This is, in my head, the "season finale" of Volume 1. I might still write stories set in the pre-novel timeline, but this story takes place within a few weeks of the Gavin case. Ari and Dale are at the end of their respective ropes when it comes to lying to themselves about how much they care for each other. In that vein, it's also ties in to the very first Underdogs story I ever wrote, "Strays." It revisits the case Ari investigated when we first met her. It was a lot of fun going that far back.

_“Is this Ariadne Willow? The private investigator?”_

_“Yes, it is. How can I help you?”_

_“I’m getting married in three and a half hours, and I need your help.”_

That was the call that dragged me out of bed at half-past ten in the morning. I was more than a little hungover, more than a lot disgruntled with my life choices, and the idea of doing anything while vertical wasn’t exactly in my life plan. But a paycheck was a paycheck. So I pulled on a pair of jeans, ignoring the pile of thrift shop clothes piled next to the bed, and went into the bathroom to see how I’d fared. My eyes were bloodshot, and there was a “T” of pain stretching across my shoulders and down my spine. The impact of my feet on the carpet sent shockwaves of pain all the way up my body, like I was the epicenter of my own personal earthquake. Then again, that’s the price you pay for being a werewolf.

That’s me. Ariadne Willow, private investigator... _canidae_.

That’s the politically correct term for what I am. On certain nights (and no, not specifically the full moon) I change into a wolf and go for a run. It’s entirely voluntary, although I do get a little stir-crazy if I don’t change for a few days. Last night was my first run in a while and the wolf took full advantage of it. I was like one of those people getting dragged down the street by their dog’s leash. 

The client was a woman named Rebecca Sampson. I tried to remember her as a client, but it was only in the shower that I realized who she really was. Her mother had hired me to investigate her new relationship. I watched her and the girlfriend for a day and realized they were happy and there was nothing worrisome going on between the two. I guess my reasoning was sound, because Rebecca and her girlfriend Alicia were about to make things official. 

I dressed in a button-down shirt, suspenders, and a pair of nice slacks. If I was going to play wedding crasher I didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb. I thought about calling my assistant Dale to let her know I had taken on a client, but I told myself there wasn’t time. The job was time-sensitive, sure, but the real reason was I didn’t want to talk to Dale. I didn’t want to call her and risk someone else answering the phone chipper and sweet and post-coital.

Dale wasn’t my girlfriend, and I’d pushed her to get out and have a relationship. Have a life. But then the bitch went and followed my advice, and I was livid because of it. I couldn’t stand that she was seeing some film student from Washington University. A student! She was twenty-three. Okay, so maybe it was only a six year difference, but the idea of arranging dates around study group? It was embarrassing. So I was embarrassed for her. That was all.

The ceremony was being held in Volunteer Park Conservatory. I parked and made my way up to the large Gothic greenhouse that looked like a crystal palace. There was such a small crowd that I couldn’t very well move around unnoticed, so I took advantage and asked someone where I could find Rebecca. I was taken to a small suite of rooms that were serving as dressing rooms. The woman who brought me back knocked on one door, received permission to let me in, and I nodded my thanks to my guide as she slipped away.

I went inside and found Rebecca standing in front of a mirror. She wore a strapless red dress, her hair done up in a layered twist. She took my breath away, so I could only imagine how her fiancé would react. She smiled nervously when she faced me, rubbing her hands together as she faced me. “Hi, Miss Willow. Thank you so much for coming.”

“It’s fine. I’m surprised you remembered me.”

“Well, you were instrumental in reuniting me with my mother. We spent a lot of time dancing around each other but when she hired you we actually sat down and talked.” She sighed. “I wouldn’t be getting married today if it wasn’t for you. And I... I still might not get married if you don’t help me again. I couldn’t ask anyone here for help because then they’d know something was wrong, and I remembered you, and I...”

I held up my hands to stop her since she was on the verge of hyperventilating. “Why don’t we just start with why you called me?”

She took a deep breath. “Right. Okay. We got here at eight to start setting up. I came in here, put away my things, and went out to help with decorations. When I came back to change, I noticed... I looked, and...” She turned to the vanity and picked up a small jewelry box. She opened it to reveal it was empty. “My great-grandmother’s bracelet was in this. Alicia and I decided not to do the ring thing until same-sex marriage is legalized in Washington, but we planned to exchange bracelets. I’ve had this since I was eighteen. My mother gave it to me as a graduation present and told me to give it to my daughter.” She blinked away her tears. “Things have been going so well between us. She’s even coming to give me away. I can’t tell her I lost it.”

I was heartbroken for her. I stepped forward as she began to cry, and I put my hands on her shoulders. “Okay. Just let it out now before they put your makeup on. I’ll find the bracelet free of charge. Consider it my wedding gift for you.”

“Thank you. If I had to tell my mother I lost the bracelet...”

“I’ll do my best to make sure you don’t have to do that. You’re getting married at two?” Rebecca nodded. “Okay. I do good work when I’m on a deadline. You got here at eight, left the bracelet on the vanity, and then went outside to help... who else has been here?”

Rebecca sniffled and shook her head. “Just my family, my friends. The only person who has been in this room besides me is Gracie, my bridesmaid. Oh, and the attendant. The park has someone making sure we don’t nail anything to the trees or anything. He was in here just for a second, but he didn’t see the bracelet.”

“You’re sure about that?”

“Yes, positive. It was in my bag the entire time.”

“Are you sure? It could have been stolen from your home and you just picked up the empty box.”

Rebecca shook her head. “I looked at it as Gracie drove me here today. I was imagining how it would look on Alicia’s wrist.” She blinked back another wave of tears. “Even if he did, the door was locked when I wasn’t in the room.”

“He works for the park. He could have gotten a key if the incentive was large enough.” I noticed she was wearing pearl earrings and a matching necklace. “Was the rest of your jewelry in the room, too?”

She reached up to touch her earlobes. “Oh. Yes... they were in my bag.”

“So nothing else was taken. That means someone was specifically after the bracelet. Go splash a little water on your face, compose yourself, and let them do your makeup. I’ll snoop around a little and see what I can find out.”

“Thank you.”

I smiled and stepped aside so she could get past me. She closed the door and I stood in the middle of the room to get a feel for the space. It was tiny, with barely enough room for two people. The window looked out over a slope of grass and, as I discovered when I tried to open it, painted shut. The door didn’t show any signs of damage but someone could easily have gotten a key from the park attendant. I took a deep breath and turned in a circle, picking up subtle traces of perfume and sweat. I had taught myself to ignore a huge gamut of odors so that I wasn’t constantly bombarded by clouds of BO and body wash that burned the hairs from my nostrils. My eyes watered as I opened the floodgates and caught a wave of cosmetic products Rebecca was using to pretty herself up for the ceremony.

Once I’d gotten an idea of how the room “looked” to my nose, I crouched and rested my arms across my knees. One door into the room, nowhere to hide, and the person who stole the bracelet knew exactly what they were looking for. They had to know they would be found out before the wedding. I narrowed my eyes and stood up straighter as I looked around the room. No signs of forced entry. A thief who knew exactly what they were looking for, a tight window of opportunity. I took another sniff of the room before I left, going back out to where the group of guests were waiting. I found someone at random and put on my best polite smile.

“Excuse me. I’d like to give my congratulations to the mother of the bride. Ah, Roberta Sampson, I mean. Do you know where I could find her?”

“She left about half an hour ago. I think she had to run an errand.”

“Thank you.” I walked back to the parking lot and waited, knowing my deadline was fast-approaching. I decided to give it ten minutes and, if Mrs. Sampson didn’t appear, I would take a different tack. At twelve minutes, after extending my own timeline twice, a sedan pulled into the parking lot. I recognized Roberta Sampson from her visit to my office a year earlier and moved to intercept her as she parked. She glanced at me as she got out of the car and did a double-take when she recognized me.

“Miss Willow, if I recall?”

“That’s right. How have you been, Miss Sampson?”

She nodded slowly. “I’ve been well. My relationship with my daughter has flourished in the past few months thanks to you. I... I wasn’t aware that you two had stayed in touch, let alone that you were close enough to be invited to the wedding.”

I shook my head. “I’m not actually invited. Rebecca called me to find a bracelet that had been stolen from her dressing room.”

Mrs. Sampson’s eyes widened just slightly, and I saw her body tense ever-so-slightly. She glanced past me at the Conservatory and then her eyes snapped back onto mine. “O-oh, I see.”

“Yeah. So I have until two o’clock to find out where the bracelet is and get it back. Or you could just put it back now and save us both some time.”

She flinched at that. “It’s not what you think.”

“I hope not. She said you two had really been getting along well. I’d hate to think you did something so passive-aggressive on the day of her wedding.”

“It is. That’s why I tried to do this quietly so I could explain with everything in hand.” Roberta sighed and motioned for me to follow her to one of the benches nearby. She sat down with her purse on her lap. “I rebelled against the idea of my daughter being with a woman. Especially a woman so much older than she is. But I came around. The way they are together, and the way Alicia looks at my daughter... it’s what every mother wants for their child. I accepted that it’s not my choice who she ends up with and I accepted Alicia. 

“Then this morning I discovered that Rebecca planned to give her that bracelet. It was an heirloom. The women in our family pass it down to our daughters like a torch being passed to the next generation. She was supposed to give it to her daughter. It wasn’t meant for anything as symbolic as this.”

“The tradition is important enough that you would sabotage your daughter’s wedding?”

“No!” She looked at me pitifully. “That’s not what I intended at all. The bracelet is fake, Miss Willow. The diamonds are glass. It’s a trinket, a piece of costume jewelry that costs maybe twenty dollars at a supermarket. It’s worthless. I couldn’t bear to have my daughter give that to the woman she loved, so I... I went home for this.” She opened her purse and withdrew the most gorgeous bracelet I’d ever seen.

“Aquamarine and moonstone. The first is Rebecca’s birthstone, and the second is Alicia’s. I’ve had it for a while. I was going to give it to them eventually as a gift but I thought letting Rebecca give it to Alicia today would be more... appropriate?” She tilted her head to the side as she ran her thumb over the bracelet. “I want her to know I don’t just approve of their joining together. I want them to know I support them one hundred percent. I couldn’t let this ceremony be sealed with paste and glass. It’s far too meaningful to be sullied that way.”

I nodded. “You should have told her.”

“I know. But I didn’t want her to take it on faith that I had this. I wanted it in hand when I explained the truth.” She smiled sadly. “I felt like I needed tangible evidence that I was working in her best interest.”

I put my hand on her shoulder. “Your daughter is going crazy because the bracelet is gone. Not because she wanted to give it to Alicia. I think she feels like she could explain that away, no problem. She’s terrified of letting you down. That bracelet meant the world to her because she got it from you. Hell, the fact she was going to give it to her bride tells you how much it meant to her. I think you two are going to be just fine. Just be honest with each other in the future.”

“Excellent advice. Has she already reimbursed you for your work?”

“Free of charge. Besides, what did I do? You were going to explain everything in a minute anyway. I’d feel weird charging for this. Go ahead and sort things out with her.”

“Thank you, Miss Willow. Will you stick around? I’m sure Rebecca will want to thank you for your help after I’ve spoken to her.”

“Sure.” I nodded over her shoulder. “I’ll be over by the water.”

“Okay. Thank you again for your help.”

I watched her walk away, pausing to admire how good she looked when she walked away. If Alicia and Rebecca could make the age difference go away... I dismissed the thought and stood up to wander toward the reservoir. I stood on the east edge of the pool and stuck my hands in my pockets. I could see Seattle spread out beyond the limits of the pool, the spire of the Space Needle rising in the distance and cars speeding along I-5.

This was my town. The parks and trees sprawling between the concrete and glass was my forest. The wolf in me owned this ground. 

I surveyed my kingdom for a long moment before I heard the clicking of high heels coming up behind me. I turned to see Rebecca in her gown, now with her makeup, and she smiled while fighting back tears. When she reached me she sighed, lifting her shoulders and then dropping them again.

“So Mom did it.”

“She had reasons.”

“Very good reasons,” Rebecca admitted. “Thank you.”

I shook my head. “Like I told your mother, I didn’t do anything.”

“You kept me calm. Once you got here I could breathe because I knew it was being taken care of. Even if you didn’t actually track down the thief, although I guess you did do that, come to think of it, you were invaluable today. Thank you so much, Miss Willow. I don’t suppose you’d stay for the ceremony.”

“No, I don’t think I’d fit in.”

“Well, then... there’s something I wanted to give you.” She opened the clutch she’d been holding. “Alicia had the idea that we would smoke cigars after the reception before going to the airport, but neither of us really like cigars. The symbolism is what’s important, so we decided to smoke...” She lifted a joint and I laughed. She shrugged. “What can I say? I was in college not long ago. You’re a big part of why this wedding is happening stress-free. Take it. Enjoy it.”

I took it and tucked it into my shirt pocket. “Will do. Have a good marriage.”

Rebecca took a deep breath and released it as a chuckle. “Marriage. Marriage! Wow. I will. I really will. And if we ever need a private investigator...”

“Oh.” I took out my wallet and pinched out one of the cards Dale had made for us. I held it out to her. “I would be happy to be your family’s official private eye.”

She laughed and took the card. “I’ll keep this somewhere safe. I’ll see you around, Miss Willow.”

“Ariadne.”

She nodded and walked away, holding her dress up so she wouldn’t trip over it. I watched her go, envious of her even though marriage was something that wasn’t even on my horizon. I could barely find a woman I trusted enough to have four dates with, let alone spend the rest of my life with. My life was a lot to dump on a woman... I had a dangerous job, and three out of every seven days I would skip sleeping to go running around the city as a wolf. That’s not exactly a third-date conversation, but how could I get to a third date or beyond if I had to be dishonest about who I am?

My phone rang as I walked back to my car. I checked the screen, smiled when I saw Dale’s name, and answered it as I got behind the wheel.

“Hey.”

“Ari? Is everything all right?”

“Fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“It’s the middle of the day and you’re not in yet. I was starting to get worried.”

I smiled, touched by her concern. “I thought maybe you’d be sleeping in with your little co-ed?”

“We...”

I waited and then said, “Was that you being French?”

“No, uh. I just... I um. We broke up last night.”

I winced. “Oh, geez. I’m sorry, Dale.” I remembered the past relationships that had ended because Dale always insisted on putting me first. Some nights the wolf ran me too far and I wound up too far too walk home and too tired to try changing back into the wolf. Those nights I would use the change Dale left in stashes buried throughout the city to call her, and she would drag herself out of bed to come get me. “It wasn’t because of the job, was it?”

“No, she decided...” Her voice trailed off and, when she spoke again, was very soft. “I don’t really feel like talking about it right now. I was just sitting here trying to bury myself in work to forget about it, and you weren’t here. I was lonely.”

“Well, I’m done with the quick job I took this morning, so I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

“Quick job?”

“I’ll explain when I get to the office. It was actually a repeat customer. Sort of.”

Dale said, “Oh, we like those. Okay. I’ll see you soon. I can go down the street and get you some coffee for when you get here.”

“That would be great. Thanks.”

“Okay. And Ari? Thanks. It helped a lot talking to you just now.”

I shook my head. “Seems like I’m getting a lot of thanks today and I’m not doing a hell of a lot. But whatever I did, you’re welcome.”

“You do more than you know. Okay. I’ll head to the coffee shop as soon as you hang up. See you soon.”

“See you.”

I hung up and rested my wrists on top of the steering wheel. I felt guilty about thinking bad thoughts of Dale’s girlfriend, wondering if they’d somehow contributed to the break-up. Dale was extraordinarily sweet, beautiful, kind... everything somebody could want in a girlfriend. She deserved to be with someone who truly appreciated what she had to give. Hopefully she would find it sooner than later, and hopefully I could find someone who would accept me and all my foibles the way Dale had. 

The odds were against us, but I had a feeling we’d both get there eventually. We just had to be patient and keep our eyes open for the opportunity to present itself.


End file.
